Silence: 01/31/11

Bullying has been in the headlines. It's also been a recurring theme in teen fiction since at least the mid 1970s.

"Silence" by Dale Bailey is a depressing retelling of E.T. The main character is a suffering through school being the target of the bullies. He's a latchkey kid and basically lives his life alone.

The alien he finds is really an after though to the story, an excuse to put it in a science fiction magazine. The alien is injured and dying. It's there as a reminder of just how much worse things could be for the protagonist.

The story is well written but it wasn't one of my favorites from the issue. The whole point seemed to be that bullying is bad. Got that. Check. And then? But there's not then there. Just the message that bullying is bad.